KOLKATA: The police are in a fix trying to ascertain how cyber frauds are managing to target victims while using the prevailing pandemic to suit their cause. The latest to be targeted are Covid warriors, mostly doctors and healthcare workers who have to travel to work daily in app cabs.
A doctor from Murshidabad who comes to work at a Bowbazar hospital was stumped when he completed an app-cab ride earlier this week.
“It was a day before the lockdown. I got a call from a person saying he was representing an the app-cab aggregator and asked me my profession. When I said I was a doctor, he asked me if I was interested in concessions as I am a Covid warrior. I agreed and he induced me to click on a link and share the OTP. The moment I did, I lost around Rs 20,000. Fortunately, I did not have much money in my wallet or I would have ended up losing more,” said Asis Jana.
Another doctor, Pragati Sharma, has approached Bowbazar police saying she lost Rs 1 lakh to a similar fraud. In her complaint, she claimed unidentified people cheated her by impersonating customer care executives of an app-cab aggregator. They induced her to click on a link shared by them, after which, Rs 1 lakh was deducted from her account.
Recently, the CBI was alerted by Interpol about a banking Trojan known as Cerberus. This malicious software impersonates links from a legitimate source and tricks users into installing it on smartphones. Some of the common methods used by these cyber criminals to target Covid warriors include sending fake documents, like health advisories, Covid response documents and e-books, in the name of reputable sources like the government and World Health Organization, creating malicious websites or applications related to Covid, like maps and real-time Covid tracking apps, and running spam campaigns for selling masks, sanitizers and Covid vaccines.
The Kolkata Police cyber cell has also busted a fake call centre — the fourth in less than two weeks — in Survey Park that duped Australians using the pandemic fear. The call centre was operating from the fourth floor of Kaibalya Bhawan and three persons — Rohit Kumar Bhagat, 28, of Katju Nagar, Krishna Prasad Singh, 28, of New Santoshpur Main Road and Sagar Limbu, 31, of Azadgarh — were arrested. “Three hard disks, four cellphones, ATM cards, cheque books and several incriminating documents were seized from the accused who have been charged under sections of IT Act and IPC,” said joint CP (crime) Murlidhar Sharma.
A doctor from Murshidabad who comes to work at a Bowbazar hospital was stumped when he completed an app-cab ride earlier this week.
“It was a day before the lockdown. I got a call from a person saying he was representing an the app-cab aggregator and asked me my profession. When I said I was a doctor, he asked me if I was interested in concessions as I am a Covid warrior. I agreed and he induced me to click on a link and share the OTP. The moment I did, I lost around Rs 20,000. Fortunately, I did not have much money in my wallet or I would have ended up losing more,” said Asis Jana.
Another doctor, Pragati Sharma, has approached Bowbazar police saying she lost Rs 1 lakh to a similar fraud. In her complaint, she claimed unidentified people cheated her by impersonating customer care executives of an app-cab aggregator. They induced her to click on a link shared by them, after which, Rs 1 lakh was deducted from her account.
Recently, the CBI was alerted by Interpol about a banking Trojan known as Cerberus. This malicious software impersonates links from a legitimate source and tricks users into installing it on smartphones. Some of the common methods used by these cyber criminals to target Covid warriors include sending fake documents, like health advisories, Covid response documents and e-books, in the name of reputable sources like the government and World Health Organization, creating malicious websites or applications related to Covid, like maps and real-time Covid tracking apps, and running spam campaigns for selling masks, sanitizers and Covid vaccines.
The Kolkata Police cyber cell has also busted a fake call centre — the fourth in less than two weeks — in Survey Park that duped Australians using the pandemic fear. The call centre was operating from the fourth floor of Kaibalya Bhawan and three persons — Rohit Kumar Bhagat, 28, of Katju Nagar, Krishna Prasad Singh, 28, of New Santoshpur Main Road and Sagar Limbu, 31, of Azadgarh — were arrested. “Three hard disks, four cellphones, ATM cards, cheque books and several incriminating documents were seized from the accused who have been charged under sections of IT Act and IPC,” said joint CP (crime) Murlidhar Sharma.
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